I'm a primary (elementary) teacher who runs an after-school art club. This blog records all of my art activities with instructions and examples of work that my club produces. I also post artwork from my usual class.

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

It is half-term! Hooray! This was the last project of our "Road Trip USA" module. We began the lesson by discussing the symbolism and story of dreamcatchers. Next, we looked at a range of examples and talked about creating our own dreamcatcher but with a modern twist. I came across this take on the project and thought it would be perfect for the short amount of time that we had.

Each child was given a paper plate. We folded it in half and cut a semi-circle around the rim of the plate which produces the hoop outline shape of our dreamcatcher. We then used the circle part that was cut out to create our shape for the middle. Children then painted both the shape and the hoop. The following week was spent weaving our dreamcatcher and adding extra decorations like beads and feathers.

Here are some of the results:

Great job, 4B! This has been a fantastic half-term and I'm looking forward to our next topic, "Blue Abyss" where we'll be diving underwater.

Something slightly different for this project. As the art co-ordinator for the school, other year groups sometimes come to me for advice on projects. Year 6 were looking for some help with their "Frozen" topic and wanted to produce some art featuring the Arctic and also wanted a way to include snippets from their arctic poems. Fortunately, I came across this excellent picture on Arteascuola. It showed numerous methods for achieving polar landscapes such as salt, clingfilm and rice.

The first lesson saw Year 6 explore these methods and others to see which effect they preferred and it also gave them an opportunity to master the technique. The following 1-2 lessons were spent creating their artwork that was based on this and this. I loved both of these pictures and the class was tasked with creating their own polar landscape also featuring the northern lights. Their final job was to add a few words or lines from their arctic poem that they'd created in literacy.

Here are a few examples of their work, I think they've come out beautifully:

(This person actually used the water/paint/clingfilm for the Northern lights!)

Friday, 6 February 2015

As soon as I knew this half-term's topic was going to have an art focus on the Native Americans, I knew that at some point this amazing lesson by 'That Artist Woman' was going to be big inspiration.

We toyed with the idea of using photographs of the children themselves but realised after some research that non-Natives wearing these headdresses could be quite offensive. Instead, we decided to use a silhouette for the face which would ensure that the headdress would be the main focus of the artwork.

We began the lesson by researching the importance of the headdress and learnt about how the feathers had to be earned for good deeds and other achievements. Having looked at some other examples, the students were ready to begin their own. They were very excited when they saw what their final product could look like. This activity took roughly two 1-hour slots.

1. Children took their black A5 paper and followed a guided drawing to create the side-profile of the face. We had more success when using dots to mark the key places and then joining up.

2. Children split their A3 piece of paper into thirds. Each third would use a different medium. On one third, they drew 6-7 feather shapes with charcoal and decorated each feather with a different pattern. On another third, they filled the entire space with bright colours using oil pastels. They were encouraged to do lots of blending! In the final third, children covered the entire space with earthy colours (brown, orange, red, black).

3. To create the feathers, students then cut out their charcoal feathers that they had drawn. For the other two thirds, children turned over their paper and drew 6-7

feather shapes in each third. These were then cut out to reveal beautiful patterns and designs.

4. To create the 'head-band- part of the headdress, students placed their A5 piece of white paper over the silhouette. They could then use the silhouette as a rough guide for the shape and width needed for their band.

5. Once the band was cut out, children could then use water colours to decorate with a pattern.

6. For the medallion, children traced around a cup and then used colouring pencils to decorate with a different pattern. Once the pattern was completed, they then traced the lines in black pen to give a beaded effect.

7. Now it was time to assemble their masterpieces. The trimmed A4 white paper was mounted onto the black paper. The black silhouette was then stuck onto the white paper, making sure enough room was left for the headdress. The feathers were then attached all the way around the back of the head. The 'headband' could then be glued on top and finally, the medallion was stuck on too!

This was a fantastic project and I am delighted with the results. The children were very proud of their work and hard work that went into it. We're going to be presenting this work in 4B's Sharing Assembly next week.

I know I said this recently, but now THIS is my favourite art project completed so far. I'm sure you'll agree that they look stunning up on display!

A huge congratulations, 4B. I keep on being amazed and impressed by your talent.